Legal Filings

Legal Filings

CREW Files FOIA Requests Regarding Investigations of Reps. Young and Lewis

Today CREW continued to seek information about why the Department of Justice (DOJ) dropped numerous investigations into activities of members of Congress in last few months, filing Freedom of Information Act requests with DOJ and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) for records related to DOJ's now-closed investigations of House Appropriations Committee Chairman Emeritus Jerry Lewis (R-CA) and former House Transportation Chairman Don Young (R-AK).

In 2006, DOJ, the FBI, and other law enforcement agencies launched an investigation into whether Rep. Lewis broke the law by steering millions of dollars in earmarks to clients of lobbying firms managed by his friend former Rep. Bill Lowery (R-CA) in exchange for campaign contributions.  The investigations looked into several allegations, including that Rep. Lewis helped secure government contracts for Brent Wilkes, a major donor to Rep. Lewis who was later convicted of bribing former Rep. Randy "Duke" Cunningham in exchange for earmarks, and that he obtained for earmarks for government institutions in and around his district that paid millions of dollars in fees to Mr. Lowery's clients.  Investigators also focused on the revolving door between Lewis's staff and Mr. Lowery's firms.  After four years, the U.S. Attorney's Office in Los Angeles announced in December 2010 it had closed its investigation of Rep. Lewis's conduct.

DOJ conducted at least two investigations of Rep. Young.  One probed whether he accepted bribes, illegal gratuities, or unreported gifts from an Alaskan company, and a second one examined Rep. Young's insertion of a $10 million earmark into a transportation bill - after Congress passed it - that benefitted one of his campaign contributors.  DOJ told Rep. Young in August 2010 it had concluded its investigation and would not prosecute him.

The requested documents would shed light on the conduct of DOJ and the FBI in investigating Reps. Lewis and Young, and DOJ's decisions to close the investigations without bringing charges.  In addition, while DOJ decided not to prosecute Reps. Lewis or Young, their activities still may have been illegal or violations of the rules of the House, and the requested records would shed light on them.

CREW previously filed FOIA requests for records of closed DOJ investigations of Sen. John Ensign (R-NV) and former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay (R-TX).  To date, neither DOJ nor the FBI has produced any records in response to these requests.